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Symposium
'There he is fixed,' said he, 'and when I call to him he will not stir.' Note: 175a Phaedrus began by affirming that Love is a mighty god, and wonderful among gods and men, but especially wonderful in his birth. For he is the eldest of the gods, which is an honour to him; and a proof of his claim to this honour is, that of his parents there is no memorial; neither poet nor prose-writer has ever affirmed that he had any. Note: 178b And I say that a lover who is detected in doing any dishonourable act, or submitting through cowardice when any dishonour is done to him by another, will be more pained at being detected by his beloved than at being seen by his father, or by his companions, or by any one else. Note: 178d when abandoning his post or throwing away his arms? He would be ready to die a thousand deaths Note: 179a Love will make men dare to die for their beloved—love alone; Note: 179b Nevertheless he gave his life to revenge his friend, and dared to die, not only in his defence, but after he was dead. Note: 179e actions are not in themselves either Good or evil, Note: 181a For they love not boys, but intelligent beings whose reason is beginning to be developed, much about the time at which their beards begin to grow. Note: 181d These are the persons who bring a reproach on love; and some have been led to deny the lawfulness of such attachments because they see the impropriety and evil of them; for surely nothing that is decorously and lawfully done can justly be censured. Note: 182a In Ionia and other places, and generally in countries which are subject to the barbarians, the custom is held to be dishonourable; loves of youths share the evil repute in which philosophy and gymnastics are held, because they are inimical to tyranny; Note: 182c in Athens to love and to be loved is held to be a very honourable thing. Note: 182d when parents forbid their sons to talk with their lovers, and place them under a tutor's care, who is appointed to see to these things, Note: 183d And this is the reason why, in the first place, a hasty attachment is held to be dishonourable, because time is the true test Note: 184a only one way of honourable attachment which custom allows in the beloved, and this is the way of virtue; for as we admitted that any service which the lover does to him is not to be accounted flattery or a dishonour to himself, so the beloved has one way only of voluntary service which is not dishonourable, and this is virtuous service. Note: 184c There are in the human body these two kinds of love, Note: 186a to indulge good men is honourable, and bad men dishonourable:—so Note: 186c in music there is the same reconciliation of opposites; Note: 187c The sexes were not two as they are now, but originally three in number; there was man, woman, and the union of the two, having a name corresponding to this double nature, which had once a real existence, but is now lost, and the word 'Androgynous' is only preserved as a term of reproach. Note: 189e man was originally the child of the sun, the woman of the earth, and the man-woman of the moon, which is made up of sun and earth, and they were all round and moved round and round like their parents. Note: 190b Should they kill them and annihilate the race with thunderbolts, as they had done the giants, then there would be an end of the sacrifices and worship which men offered to them; but, on the other hand, the gods could not suffer their insolence to be unrestrained. At last, after a good deal of reflection, Zeus discovered a way. Note: 190c After the division the two parts of man, each desiring his other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one, Note: 191a if man came to man they might be satisfied, and rest, and go their ways to the business of life: Note: 191d themselves the best of boys and youths, because they have the most manly nature. Note: 192a When they reach manhood they are lovers of youth, and are not naturally inclined to marry or beget children,—if Note: 192b And he is the fairest: for, in the first place, he is the youngest, and of his youth he is himself the witness, fleeing out of the way of age, Note: 195b in the hearts and souls of both gods and men, which are of all things the softest: Note: 195e And at the touch of him every one becomes a poet, Note: 196e And as to the artists, do we not know that he only of them whom love inspires has the light of fame?—he Note: 197a First, is not love of something, and of something too which is wanting to a man? Note: 200e he is neither mortal nor immortal, but in a mean between the two.' 'What is he, Diotima?' 'He is a great spirit (daimon), Note: 202d 'He interprets,' she replied, 'between gods and men, conveying and taking across to the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to men the commands and replies of the gods; Note: 202e generation is a sort of eternity and immortality,' Note: 207a the mortal nature is seeking as far as is possible to be everlasting and immortal: Note: 207d in company with him tends that which he brings forth; and they are married by a far nearer tie and have a closer friendship than those who beget mortal children, Note: 209c if beauty of form in general is his pursuit, how foolish would he be not to recognize that the beauty in every form is and the same! Note: 210b beauty of the mind is more honourable than the beauty of the outward form. Note: 210c not like a servant in love with the beauty of one youth or man or institution, himself a slave mean and narrow-minded, but drawing towards and contemplating the vast sea of beauty, Note: 211d Well, he and I were alone together, and I thought that when there was nobody with us, I should hear him speak the language which lovers use to their loves when they are by themselves, and I was delighted. Nothing of the sort; he conversed as usual, and spent the day with me and then went away. Note: 217b no human being had ever seen Socrates drunk; Note: 220a His fortitude in enduring cold was also surprising. Note: 220b continued thinking from early dawn until noon—there Note: 220d for who but he saved my life? Note: 220e and he has ill-treated not only me, but Charmides the son of Glaucon, and Euthydemus the son of Diocles, and many others in the same way—beginning Note: 222b